Turkish president threatens to ‘drown’ U.S.-backed force in Syria

BEIRUT — Turkish President ­Recep Tayyip Erdogan reacted in anger Monday to a proposed U.S.-trained force that could lead to Kurdish militiamen being stationed on the Syrian side of Turkey’s southern border, threatening to “drown” the force before it is born.

The U.S.-led coalition confirmed Sunday that it is training recruits for a planned 30,000-strong force that will maintain security on Syria’s borders with Turkey and Iraq, as well as along the Euphrates River valley.

But its manpower will be drawn from the Kurdish-dominated Syrian Democratic Forces, Washington’s favored proxy in the fight against the Islamic State and a major source of contention with Ankara, which views Syria’s Kurdish fighters as an extension of a Kurdish group in Turkey that has battled the central government for decades.